Z. Raptor
Page 19
Even Harm managed a smile, down on the sand. “Hey,” she said croakily. “Happy holidays.”
24
START ENDING
Adam watched and waited at the water’s edge as the crowded life raft washed in closer. Most thirteen-year-old boys wait for their dads to get home from work in the evening, he reflected, shaking his head. Me . . .
“Hey! Adam!”
Adam’s battered heart very nearly gave out altogether at the sound of the voice. He opened his mouth to call back, but the words dried in his throat as a tall, gawky figure stood up in the middle of the boat. He waved madly, and Adam waved back as his father jumped in the water with an ungainly splash, almost lost his spectacles, swam and then waded toward shore. Adam ran into the surf and into his dad’s arms. He almost passed out from the pain of his crushed bruises, but hugged him right back. He found he couldn’t let go, couldn’t even look up into his dad’s face, in case he was imagining things. Adam had figured he’d have so much to say at this moment, but right now words made way for tears.
That was okay.
He knew the feeling wouldn’t last, but everything was okay right now.
An hour later, Adam stood at the cliff edge, a light breeze stirring the rags of his T-shirt, looking down at the graceful lines of the Pahalu dominating the inlet below. Wide black shadows washed beneath the idle surface of the glistening sea—the guardians of the shattered base. With their final task completed, their own systems had shut down.
“I can’t believe what you’ve been through,” Adam’s dad said to him. “I was afraid I’d lost you this time.”
Adam nodded distantly and found himself looking all around for any sign of raptors—a slither of scaly movement, the flash of an amber eye or the twitch of a claw.
Bill Adlar got slowly to his feet and stood beside Adam. “I know I can’t wave any wands to fix this. But now that the whole thing’s over and we’re back together—”
“It’s not over, Dad.” Adam turned to him. “I mean, the raptors are dead, but Samantha Josephs”—he hugged himself—“she said she wouldn’t be killed. She seemed to really believe it, but how—?”
Mr. Adlar shrugged. “Sam Josephs was delusional. You know that. But in the end, she proved no less human than you or I, Ad. She’s gone from our lives now. Finally. And this time we have real evidence of what Geneflow has been doing. The sea monsters . . . the submarine Josephs used to get in and out . . . the bodies of the raptors . . . Chen’s already interrogating one of their guards, I believe. You and I can go home now, Ad.”
Adam forced a smile. “A bit late as Christmas presents go. But I can deal with that.”
“Home!” came a cheerful voice. Harm had approached, using a branch as a walking stick. “Just imagine—TV. Music. Three meals a day. Sleeping in a bed.” She laughed suddenly. “A bed! I mean, what? Are you serious?”
Adam grinned. “Will you go back to your mom?”
“Maybe.” Harm shrugged. “I was just drifting before, you know? Came out here wanting to meet up with my dad again, wanting something big to change my life.”
“You got that, all right.”
“But I wanted it to change without me doing anything myself,” Harm said. “The new me is never going to wait around for stuff to happen again.” She looked at Mr. Adlar and smiled. “So, while he’s glad to see you and all, can you give us five minutes alone?”
Adam’s dad raised his eyebrows and pretended to consider. “I guess I can. Seeing as it’s Christmas.” He winked at Adam and walked off into the jungle foliage. “I’ll catch you later.”
“You know it,” Adam said. He turned to Harm, curious. “What’s up?”
She looked at him. “What did Alta-Vita mean again?”
“Er . . .” Adam cast his mind back. “Life at its summit, or something.”
“I think David just reached his. I caught him and Lisa in camp. You know, she’s busy feeding everyone out of that storeroom ’cause that’s how she is, and he’s helping her to do it ’cause that’s how he is. And then, you know what she does?” She leaned forward and kissed Adam lightly on the lips. “She does that.”
Startled, Adam felt his cheeks burn red. “She, uh . . . she does?”
Harm smiled at him. “See what a good new person I am? You nearly get me killed, and do I kick your butt? No, I limp all the way out here to kiss you just ’cause the sun is shining and life is sweet.” She looked out to sea. “Or at least, it could be. Guess it’s all up to me and my dreams, isn’t it?”
Adam nodded.
He and Harm sat in the sunshine, for the first time enjoying the beauty of their tropical surroundings. The sky stretched wide all around them, a pale and perfect blue. There wasn’t a cloud on the horizon.
Not yet.